The goal ofthe Education and Research Training Core (ERTC) is to provide high-quality disparities research training and mentoring support for African-American and Latino pre- and post-doctoral students in relevant fields, medical students, residents, fellows, community stakeholders, and junior faculty investigators from Charies R. Drew University of Medicine and Science (CDU) and University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Training will focus on research improving the health of racial/ethnic minority groups and reducing disparities. This program will operate under the umbrella ofthe CDU/UCLA Disparities Research and Training Center (Disparities Center), a cross-core collaboration between the ERTC and the Administrative, Research, and Community Outreach and Engagement Cores. Specific aims to reach this goal include: 1) Recruit and retain trainees at all levels from the CDU School of Medicine and Health Sciences Programs, the UCLA School of Medicine, and other professional schools, such as the School of Public Health, the School of Public Policy, and students in other relevant disciplines; 2) Develop and implement a new formal educational curriculum that provides all levels of trainees with an overview of the fundamentals of health disparities research; 3) Further expand upon established successful training activities and mentorship networkis developed by CDU and UCLA over the course of two previously funded Project EXPORTS; 4) Build on existing strong community relationships and the proposed Community Outreach and Engagement Core to promote community-academia collaborations that will help academic trainees develop research that is relevant to community needs and will assist community stakeholders in developing the skills necessary to conduct disparities research; 5) Provide mentorship to trainees to ensure the promulgation of high-quality, health disparities research, covering topics such as research methodology, and funding and dissemination strategies; and 6) Constantly monitor, evaluate, and foster the progress of all individually mentored junior faculty members, utilizing an experienced Disparities Center Executive Committee (Pis and Core Directors) whose monitoring activities will assure both the quality ofthe mentorship and trainees' contributions to disparities research.